Ablegamers releases shopping list for disabled players originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 21 Nov 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Free for All: The camera control blues (or how I judge thee, F2P grinder)

Free for All: The camera control blues (or how I judge thee, F2P grinder) originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 03 Nov 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last week, a blind friend of mine decided to get herself addicted to WoW. We re-rolled characters on a different realm and are slowly leveling. I'm not a fan of leveling but suddenly looking at a basic UI, a new set of icons and an unfamiliar map has reminded me how scary WoW can be for a visually impaired person. The same applies to every other MMO from EVE (which is especially terrifying due to a lack of a humanoid avatar) to Second Life and I often think MMOs should come with the option of an in-game white can or a service animal. I suppose the one perk is you can't run into people and if you do fall off a cliff and die, you get to rez at the nearest graveyard.

I can't help but wonder that there is still a lot games companies need to do in order to make MMOs much more accessible to all kinds of disabled people. I would love to have icons which double in size when you mouse over them, icons on the map, much larger text sizes for the chat box and a radar circle on the floor to tell you how close until you aggro something hostile. For some kinds of disabled gamers, MMOs can offer freedom from their disability and a chance to distance themselves from their everyday lives but for others - usually visually related disabilities - MMOs can range from passable to appalling. So come on readers, do you have a disability that affects your life? Do you play MMOs? How do you find the experience? Do you wish your chosen MMO had more options for people with a specific disability? How would you alter your MMO to make it easier and more comfortable to play.

The Daily Grind: Do MMOs need to be more accessible to disabled people? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

That's the money-quote from Seshat Czeret in Feldspar Epstein's piece on disability and accessibility at The Metaverse Journal this week. Really, those five words condense thousands of written words on the empowering properties of a collaborative virtual environment, and not just for the differently-abled, but for the regularly able as well.

It is interesting to note that those with physical limitations and disablements tend to view their own physical bodies as a physical, fleshy avatar far more frequently than those who have no such impairment. To the physically handicapped, the body may not function as it ought, but their minds and persons are as whole and complete as any. Many view their bodies as simply a malfunctioning vehicle, and their step into online avatars in a 3D environment is as slight a transition as getting into a car and driving.

To many such physically impaired users, the body is no more nor less a tool than an online avatar, and the latter (despite lag, occasional inventory loss, network problems and all the other hurly-burly of a virtual environment) is the more reliable, expressive and liberating, allowing more ability to contribute, work, play and socialize.

Why then, do the able-bodied among us tend to see so much more distinction between our bodies in the physical world and our digital representations? Is that distinction merely an artificial one, a handicap brought about by our able-bodied perspective?

	Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

"Second Life is my wheelchair" originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Stephanie Walker was a gamer who had never expected to have to deal with a disability. She was 23 at the onset of her condition, a college student who also worked a full-time job. She liked to spend the little free time she had unwinding online. Initially resistant to the idea of playing EverQuest, Stephanie quickly discovered that slaying virtual orcs and bandits while joking around in party chat was surprisingly fun. It was a great way to keep in touch with long-distance friends and burn some stress after a long day. She didn't have a lot of time to play, but she was good at it when she did.

While working at her job one day, Stephanie noticed that her right hand and leg had fallen asleep. When she tried to get up to walk the sensation off, she realized that something was seriously wrong -- the entire right side of her body had just stopped working. Stephanie was rushed to the hospital, and the diagnosis was confirmed the following morning: she had multiple sclerosis, and she would have to deal with it for the rest of her life. Overnight, everything changed. She went from being someone who spent 20 hours per day away from home to someone who really never left. Moving around within her house required an enormous effort on her part. Even feeding herself had become a challenge. The little things, like not being able to get online and chat with her friends (something she really enjoyed) just made her situation that much more painful.

Continue reading Player vs. Everything: Gaming with a disability

Player vs. Everything: Gaming with a disability originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Eye Gaze project to enable the disabled

Eye Gaze project to enable the disabled originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Heron Sanctuary helps the disabled find a Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 29 Jan 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Troll/Ranger PvMP disabled once more originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 18 Dec 2007 20:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.